Mario Tennis, while not the first sports game featuring the Mushroom Kingdom gang, was one of the earliest of its kind. Still considered to be one of the most solid Mario sports games in the bunch, it introduced plenty of staples that would become normalized in its fellow spin-offs. Several other Mario sports games, including tennis simulators like Power Tennis and Aces, might be flashier and more polished, but the original Mario Tennis still manages to have a strong identity of its own.
Super Mario spin-offs have a reputation for bringing everyone, such main heroes, antagonists, one-offs, regular enemies, alternate counterparts, and even characters from other subseries along for the ride. The original Mario Tennis is arguably responsible for this trend and more.
The Character Roster
Mario Tennis on the Nintendo 64 brought back Princess Daisy (originally from Super Mario Land) and Birdo (originally from Super Mario Bros. 2) after they had largely been ignored by the franchise since their debut. The game introduced Peach and Daisy's friendship, as well as Yoshi and Birdo's implied romance.
The game is also notable for introducing Waluigi, a character initially dismissed as a lazy way to shoehorn a partner for Wario who eventually became a fan-favorite and a mainstay in Mario spin-offs. It was also the playable debut of miscellaneous enemies such as Shy Guy, Koopa Paratroopa, and Boo (who would also become regularly playable in future spin-offs). The game also happened to be Donkey Kong Jr.’s last major appearance, then relegated to small cameos.
The character roster might seem empty, especially due to the lack of characters introduced in the GameCube era such as Bowser Jr., King Boo, and Toadette. However, it normalized what was to come in future Mario spin-offs and still manages to stand out due to characters like Donkey Kong Jr.
Grounded Tennis Gameplay
The Mushroom Kingdom is a colorful fantasyland inhabited by diverse citizens such as anthropomorphic mushroom people and ox-turtle-dragon hybrids. Mario spin-offs tend to appropriately have magical elements incorporated into their takes on real-world sports games. However, Mario Tennis’ realism is a huge part of its identity.
Gameplay is dependent on a variety of shots, from slices to lobs, and even the tennis courts are surprisingly realistic, with the closest thing to a “themed” stage being a court with Mario and Luigi painted over it. Non-realistic elements such as power shots and gimmicky courts based on past Mario games would only become a mainstay in the subseries by the time Mario Power Tennis was released on GameCube.
The (New) Online
With its Expansion Pack, the Nintendo Switch will grant subscribers an opportunity to play Nintendo 64 games online. Mario Tennis will be one of those games. Online play is nothing new to the franchise, and Mario Tennis Aces even had a small but dedicated competitive scene. Mario Tennis’ multiplayer was more of a straightforward arcade-like experience, so introducing online features by porting it to the Switch via Nintendo Switch Online is an opportunity to reintroduce the game to new generations and allow nostalgic players to relive their memories with modern technology.
By putting the game on the Switch Online service, Nintendo will make the game’s charm relevant again. Considering other older games such as the original Super Smash Bros. on N64 have their own competitive scenes, Mario Tennis has a chance of standing out from its successors now that it will be getting online features.
Mario Tennis released in 2000 for the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color.
